Horn for phonographs, ear-trumpets, &amp;c.



No. 739,954. PATENTED SEPT. 29, 19o3.

G. H. WILEY}, HORN FOR PHONOGRAPES; EAR, TRUMPETS, 6:0.

APPLIOATION FIRED DEC. 8., 1902:

H0 MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Zia d Q y I J 1 Z (fi m/"fie ds 77177? as 6 es x No. 739,954. PATENTEDSEPT. 29, .1903

G. H. 'VILLY.

HORN FOR PHONOGRAPHS, BAR TRUMPETS, &0. APPLICATION FILED DBO. 8, 1902.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

F0 MODEL.

Weases UNITED STATES Patented September 29, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

GUSTAVE HARB IAN VILLY, OF MANCHESTER, ENGLAND.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 739,954, datedSeptember ZQ IQQQ 7 i Application filed ce ber 81 1902. Serial No.134,413. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GUSTAVE HARMAN VILLY, a subject of the King of GreatBritain and Ireland, residing at 5 Longford Place, Iiongsight,Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, England, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Connection with Horns for Phonographs,Ear Instruments, and for Like Purposes, (for which I have madeapplication for Letters Patent in Great Britain, No. 20,1l6, and dated15th day of September, 1902,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in connection with horns ortrumpet-like sound distributors or collectors for use upon phonographs,gramophones, and other like instruments and also for ear-trumpets,fog-horns, and other sound distributing and collecting devices, the objeet being to provide a horn or trumpet-like device which can be foldedwhen not in use, so as to be capable of ready transportation and forplacing within the case of the phonograph or in the pocket of the userwhen it is to be applied to an ear instrument or the like.

The accompanying drawings represent one form of the invention.

Figure 1 is an elevation of the complete or erected horn. Figs. 2, 3,and 4: are detail views illustrating the manner in which the horn can becollapsed or folded. Fig. 5 is a perspective-view illustrating oneconvenient application of the improved horn to aphonograph. Fig. 6 is adetail view on an enlarged scale.

In carrying my invention into effect in one convenient manner whenmaking my folding horn for use, particularly in connection With aphonograph or like instrument, I make the end a of trumpet-like orcurved configuration with an enlarged outer end and a smaller end at theinterior of the conoidal-like form. I make this enlarged andtrumpet-like device by employing a series of strips b, of paper, wood,linen, or other preferably flexible material, the foundations of which Iprefer to make of linen or the like, so as to form a hingelikeconnection 0 between each of the strips, the members I) of which Iarrange so that while lying close together when extended there is adividing-line between them about which they can be folded upon the baseof linen or the like connecting-web upon which the paper or othermaterial is mounted. The longitudinal hinged edges 0 of the flexiblesegments or sectors 1) are curved in such manner that although thesegments when opened out cannot lie in the same plane they can either befolded together in a zigzag manner, so as to lie parallel to oneanother, as shown in Figs. 2 to 4, or extended by springing or bucklinginto the requisite trumpet or belllike form, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5.The angles formed by the meeting of the hinged segments when extendedform, as it were, ribs, giving rigidity to the trumpet form. The outerends of the segmental-like strips I prefer to protect by a bent orturned-over edging cl of metal, making the connection rigid by pressinga portion of the strip of metal or other binding material into the edgeof the paper or the like foundation.

' Upon the extreme member c of the series of strips I) thus formed intoone band I provide eyelets f or other clip-like devices for enablingsnap projections 77. on the opposite end strip 9 to be engaged therewithand when thus engaged to form a completed trumpet-likesound-distributer.

Instead of arranging eyelets or hooklike 'clips upon the outer membersofthe series of strips I may make one to engage with the other by forminga beadlike connection or flange upon one member, into which thecorresponding projecting or engaging portions of the other may enter, asshown in Fig. 6. IVhen providing for an extension and a long funnel-likecarrier for the builtup trumpet-like end a to engage with, I sometimesmake a conical tube Z, the enlarged end of which engages with theinnerend of the trumpetterminal a, while the smaller end of the cone engageswith the receiver m of the phonograph or enters into the rubber or othertubular or flexible connection which may. be employed for use upon anyparticular instrument. I prefer to make this extended or carrying memberZ for the collapsible trum pet from paper or other suitable materialbuilt up in a similar manner to that hereinbefore described to mycollapsible end, or the cone may be made in a short length in one piece,or it may be made telescopic when so desired.

When providing for a flexible connection at the extreme end of the coneZ, I attach a length of rubber or the like tubing 11, which I bind withmetal or other band at the end for the purpose of inserting it upon thefunnel 0 of the phonograph-reproducer, and I stiflen the combinationtrumpetand funnel with flexible end by providing one or more bars 1) ofmetal or the like stiffeners which support the funnel by means ofelastic or other connections q, arranged upon the cone end and suspendedfrom the projecting stiffening hook or members p, carried from the metalend or binder of the flexible tube a.

When constructing a funnel or tube for an ear-trumpet or for a fog orspeaking horn or the like, I employ the same method of building up thesegments to form the expandingsurface, modifying the arrangement of theinner end to suit the connection that is to be made therewith, sothat'when the trumpet is in use it can be extended and a large outerarea exposed for the collection of sound and when not in use it can befolded, each segment upon the other, so as to occupy but littlespace-that is to say, a trumpet such asillustrated in Figs. 1 to a wouldbe suitable as an ear-trumpet. r

I am aware that it has hitherto been proposed to form conical orpyramidal horns from cardboard provided with a linen foundation; butsuch horns have been made up from a single flat scored sheet or from anumber of flat triangular strips having straight edges. Such horns couldbe developed or laid out upon a flat surface. Owing to their formationif such horns were made collapsible they would have to be sustained intheir conical form by additional sustaining means, or if they were madeself-sustaining they could not be made collapsible. In contradistinctionto this my collapsible horn could not be made up from a single flatsheet, as each strip has to be made with curved edges, and when thestrips are flexibly secured together at such curved edges the whole orcomplete surface so formed cannot be laid out or developed on a flatsurface. My horn, owing to the curvature of the edges of the strips, isself-sustaining and requires no additional stiffening or sustainingdevices, although when it is desired to collapse the horn this may beeffected by forcibly straightening and folding the strips one againstthe other in the manner hereinbefore described with reference to Figs.2, 3, and 4. The horn when erected oflfers a decided resistance to suchstraightening or folding sufficient to render it self-sustainin gagainst all ordinary shocks liable to be encountered; but it is foundthat when one strip has been forcibly straightened or folded I againstanother the equilibrium of the trumcollapsed.

I do not limit the application of my invention to any particular methodof building up the segments or to any special curve or configuration ofthe same, and I vary the method of jointing and stiffening them to suitthe material from which the strips are constructed and the foundation orbase fabric upon which the flexible material forming the strips issecured.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A collapsible but selfsustained phonograph-horn, ear-trum pet or thelike comprised of a number of flexible strips having curved meetingedges substantially as set forth.

2. A collapsible but self-sustained phonograph-horn, ear-trumpet or thelike comprising a number of flexible strips having curved meeting edgesand mounted on a flexible foundation, substantially as and for thepurposes hereinbefore set forth.

A collapsible but self-sustained phonograph-horn, ear-trumpet or thelike comprising a number of flexible strips having curved meeting edges,a flexible foundation for said strips and means for detachably securingthe two extreme strips together, substantially as set forth.

4. A collapsible but self-sustained phonograph-horn, ear-trumpet or thelike comprising a number of flexible strips having curved meeting edges,flexible connections between such edges and protecting means on theouter exposededges, substantially as set forth.

5. A phonograph-horn, ear-trumpet or the like comprising a rigid conicaltube and a collapsible trumpet-shaped mouth the latter be ing made up ofa number of flexible strips having curved meeting edges, and flexibleconnections at such edges, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

6. A horn of the class described comprising a rigid conical tube, and acollapsible trumpet-shaped mouth made up "of a-number of flexible stripshaving curved meeting edges, said mouth being connected to said rigidconical tube, substantially as described.

7. A horn of the class described comprising a rigid conical tube, and acollapsible trumpet-shaped mouth made up of a number of flexible stripshaving curved meeting edges, said mouth being telescopically connectedto I said conical tube, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twowitnesses.

GUSTAVE HARMAN VILLY.

\Vitnesses DORA VILLY, V. A. B. Huenns.

pet is destroyed and the whole maybe easily

